1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of packaging, and more particularly, packaging for granulated products, such as for example, a powder.
2. Description of Related Art
Currently, products in granular or powdered form, such as, for purposes of example without limitation, infant formula, flour, coffee, sugar, are packaged in containers. Scoops are provided within the package for measured dispensing of such contents. Consumers or users of such containers have found that the current packaging is difficult to handle with a single hand, and have found that it is difficult to open the container and to locate and remove the scoop from the packaging upon the first use without experiencing spillage. Once the lid of the container is removed and/or opened, the contents are often loosely caked or packed into parts of the interior of the lid or top of the container, which leads to spillage as the contents fall away from the lid or top. While some of the falling powder may fall back into the interior of the container, much of it is wasted and contaminated as it spills onto the surrounding workspace. Additionally, prior containers do not offer adequate sealing of the contents after the container has been opened for the first time. This leads to the undesirable and inadvertent leaking or escape of the contents from various poorly sealed areas of the container.
When the user wishes to withdraw a portion of the product from the container, she must first dig around in the interior of the container with her fingers to find the scoop. This search and locate process contaminates the contents and soils the hands of the user, which can lead to more unwanted spillage as the powder-coated fingers and hands are removed from the interior of the container. Once located, the scoop is withdrawn so that it can be used, and the scoop is also coated with the contents. The bowl of the scoop is also caked or packed with the contents. As the coating of powder and the packed bowl of powder loosen during the removal process, more contents are contaminated and wasted as the coating falls away from the hands, fingers, and scoop, and as any powder caked in the bowl loosens and falls.
Additional problems have been experienced with scoops that are positioned in a more convenient location, perhaps against an interior or exterior wall. These additional problems include difficultly in grasping the scoop, which may be tightly fastened with adhesive against the wall and/or with a mechanical retainer or fastener that leaves very little clearance between the scoop and surrounding structure of the container for grasping the scoop. These undesirable configurations typically will require more than one free hand for removal and grasping of the scoop.
Once the scoop is located and gripped by the user, it can be used to withdraw and dispense the desired amount of product. Typically, the scoop is then placed back into the container and the lid is replaced to close the container. The next time the product is to be withdrawn from the container, the process of searching for the buried and powder-coated scoop is repeated. U.S. Pat. No. 5,706,974 discusses the problem of storage of the scoop outside of the granular or powdered product.
Users have also found that it is difficult to remove the last bit of powder from the nearly empty container because the shape of the container includes tight and closed spaces that are inaccessible to the scoop, and which has other areas having a shape that is different than the shape of the scoop. As a result, a user must resort to inverting the container to completely empty the contents, which creates another instance of spillage and wasted contents.
Manufacturers of such containers have also experienced a number of challenges in fabricating the containers when using various types of optionally preferred thermo-forming and polymeric manufacturing processes and materials. In many prior art attempts to manufacture such containers, various thermo-molding processes are used. Those skilled in the relevant arts have long known about the difficultly in producing various types of packaging containers using thermo-formed polymeric materials.
Such materials are subject to many variables that adversely and unexpectedly result in product components being produced that can vary beyond acceptable dimensional tolerance limits, which results in the need to scrap defective containers and components of such container, and the need to produce replacements. Also, polymeric materials can render mis-shaped component profiles due to unexpected shrinkage and warping, and other thermo-forming anomalies that leave entire production runs of containers and components for containers destined for the scrap heap.
These types of manufacturing problems are especially pronounced in containers formed from assemblies that incorporate more than one component, such as where a top or lid and a collar assembly are fastened to a bottom part of the container. Problems in assembling such components can result if one or both of the components are out of tolerance or otherwise mis-shaped. Even where it is sometimes possible to assemble improperly dimensioned or mis-shaped components, most polymeric container configurations have long been in need of improved strength and rigidity characteristics to overcome such anomalies and to render such containers more durable for use in a wider array of environments.
Still other users experience problems with prior art containers that are inadequate for use in circumstances where the ambient air pressure external to the container changes drastically so as to create a significant pressure differential between the sealed interior space of the container and the external, ambient atmosphere. This situation is most apparent in situations where a manufacturer produces containers that are filled and sealed at a factory located at an altitude at or near sea level.
When such sea-level pressure containers are shipped to consumers located at higher altitudes or elevations, the container packaging will have a higher internal pressure, which creates a pressure differential that can be significant. If the pressure differential is large enough, the container may become distended making it difficult to stack and store, and may even experience a breach, leading to contaminated and wasted product. The opposite situation can occur when containers that are filled and sealed at a higher altitude are shipped to lower altitude users. Upon opening, ambient air can rush into the interior space of the container and contaminate the contents.
When a container having a pressure differential is opened, the contents may again spill due to the very rapid pressure equalization ejecting a cloud of powdered or other type of product contents. Attempts to overcome these disadvantages have included thicker walled containers, which increases weight and material costs, as well as round and cylindrical containers that may have higher hoop stress strength, but which are less efficient and convenient to stack and store on a shelf.
What has long been needed in the field of art is a container that addresses the many issues surrounding prior art containers, and which most importantly offers new and innovative ways to prevent and/or minimize contamination, spillage, and waste of product contained in such containers. A container has been sought that better enables access to the last bit of powder in a nearly empty container without the need to invert the container. It is also advantageous to create a container that enables more convenient access to a scoop for dispensing the powder. A container package that can be easily manipulated by one hand while leaving the other hand free for opening and dispensing is particularly needed for a variety of applications. A container that is easy to handle, grip, and to transport in quantity and to stack and store on a shelf has also been needed for a long time.
Many attempts have still fallen far short of creating a more durable container that incorporates improved rigidity and strength characteristics that can expand the range of acceptable dimensional tolerances and that can adapt to and more readily accommodate unexpected mis-shaped container component profiles. The field of art continues to have a need for a container that can better withstand pressure differentials without compromise of the container, and which can minimize the inconvenience of spillage and wasted product due to a rapidly expelled cloud of product if the container is opened while subjected to a pressure differential.